to say "no we dont have any aspirin but we do have paracetamol"?

[Bogeyface]

Because apparantly they are the same thing and I should know what he meant.

I say that as the two are completely different drugs, and as aspirin in particular must be avoided if you have certain illnesses (chicken pox if memory serves, is one) then IWNBU to be specific about what we have in?

I bet if he said 'Do you want me to do the hoovering?" You wouldn't reply 'No, as we only have a Dyson'.

I bet if he said 'Do you want me to do the hoovering?" You wouldn't reply 'No, as we only have a Dyson'.

That's hardly the same as mentioning different medicines or different cereal with completely different tastes and textures.

A vacuum cleaner works, regardless of brand.

do the vacuuming, to be safe

Easy Lweji ! It was said tongue in cheek!

However it does seem a little nit picking when they are in a relationship. Surely she would know what he was sensitive to or indeed whether he is likely to care about the difference between cornflakes and rice crispies.

Perhaps tonight when I put dinner on the table I shall read a list of possible allergens out.

Ferret How is it nit picking to answer the question I had been asked?

And we dont have a Dyson, we have a Vax. :o

Sorry! I meant the OP was nit picking a little not you!

A vax? Thtas far posher than us! We only have hard floors so only have a broom and mop!

I don't think you are tbh. They are different things. I tend to only take Nurofen tablets, or if I can't get them then I'll take a cheaper brand of ibuprofen tablets. I'll always say can you get me some Nurofen, or if not a cheaper box of ibuprofen tablets? If I specifically wanted paracetamol or aspirin, I'd say can you get me some paracetamol or aspirin? (You get the general idea).
With any type of medicine you need to be specific.

Sorry Bogeyface. I completely messed up who I was talking to there!

I blame being new! Can I ask though. Did you actually know what he wanted?

If you ask a specific question you get a specific answer. If you ask a generic question you might get a generic answer ('yes we have cereal') or you might (from me) get a (very detailed, long and waffly) specific answer ('Corn flakes, fruit n fibre, some of those little boxes meant for kids but I was tempted, I can't be sure but I think they were Frosties, Rice Crispies, some of those chocolately things with the monkey....')
You could in future go for 'no idea but when you look and find out you can let me know'

Isnt this a form of negging?
I can take paracetamol but not aspirin or ibuprofen. One would give me a stomach bleed and the other would trash my liver.
Cornflakes are not rice krispies, If he's not bothered he should ask for something generic;
'have we got any painkillers' or
'have we gort any cereal'.

And not be an arse about it.

Because actually Hoover has lost its trademark in the U.K. and is on an official list of genericized words, like Tannoy and Tupperware and Vaseline.

And in that phrase you are using it as a verb. So it doesn't relate to the actual model of the vacuum, but the action of hoovering.

Aspirin has also been genericized, he should've asked for acetylsalicylic acid.

My DH used to get huffy with me when I said exactly what you said about no aspirin but probably paracetamol or ibuprofen. Apparently he meant 'painkillers' and I should have known what he meant when he used aspirin as the catch all

I have over the years helped him to understand whether he needs a painkiller or NSAID depending on the sort of pain but the explanation definitely wasn't welcome the first time!

The problem, OP, seems to be that you are not a mind reader!

When it comes to medicines, being specific is not pedantic or petty, it is bloody sensible.

The biggest distinction...

can't you have alcohol with aspirin?

When he's suddenly been admitted to hospital and is asked if he's taken any medications, it'll fucking matter if he says he's had aspirin when he means paracetamol.

^"Also, aspirin and ibuprofen must be taken with food, because they can damage the stomach. Ibuprofen is not healthy for the liver, either.
No such worries with paracetamol."^

I expect that's just bad juxtapositioning on your part there, Lweji - paracetamol can be EXTREMELY bad for your liver of course, if taken in excess. But I think you just meant it didn't need to be taken with food, didn't you?

YANBU. I've never heard "aspirin" used as a generic description of all painkillers before.

Yanbu at all!
He's being a fool and far too general in his phrasing.

Yanbu. I'm really surprised by the posters who see no difference between aspirin/paracetamol and would use one of these as a generic term for painkillers! To me they are very different and you were being helpful rather than pedantic in your answer. I use them for different types of pain/issues so if I were to ask for a paracetamol that is what I would specifically want! I wouldn't find it helpful at all if my dh answered that we had paracetamol at home so I didn't bother buying any and then returned home to find we only have ibuprofen.

DPs parents use 'Aspirin' as a generic painkiller reference.

I used to wonder what their obsession with the stuff was, but now I know they just mean painkillers, so I just say; Oh I've got some ibuprofen or whatever (so they know what they are taking!).

I don't think you were nitpicking. I'd have said the same. And if someone said it to me, my response would be "oh sure, that'll do", and that would be the end of it!

paracetamol can be EXTREMELY bad for your liver of course, if taken in excess.

The key is in excess.

"Nonprescription pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen (Aleve, others) can damage your liver, especially if taken frequently or combined with alcohol."
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/toxic-hepatitis/symptoms-causes/dxc-20251585

This is even not as overdose. That is what I meant.

There is a big difference between saying "I had a headache but took an aspirin and I'm fine now", and asking "Have we got any aspirin?"

In the first the generic aspirin is fine, for the second we should be specific.

Ugh. I asked DPIL if they had any ibuprofen when I had an incipient migraine, and they kindly offered me some, which they'd decanted into a random bottle. On questioning, they didn't actually know what drug they were. They just call everything Anadin. I couldn't take them, as I couldn't be sure what they were and needed ibuprofen, so that I could take a couple of cocodamol 30/500s later if it didn't get better - I thanked them, and explained why I couldn't take them, and they didn't understand at all. I dread to think how many unintentional overdoses they must've taken (Lemsip, Night Nurse and Anadin, anyone?).